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DIY Band Daytime Nightlife Shares Both Music & Advice at Tuesday Tunes

For brothers Mark and Gary Malec of San Francisco band Daytime Nightlife, performing at Urban Knights Radio event Tuesday Tunes on May 2 was a way to test out new material following a new musical direction and change in their roster.

The duo visited the UKR station with just an acoustic guitar and bass in tow and performed for students a 20-minute set comprised of songs set to be featured on their latest album, out sometime in 2018.

The brothers’ brand of alternative rock bridges upbeat, sunny riffs with lyrics humming about the brighter side of life and of course, the challenges of romance. Mark said that while he and his brother’s list of influences range from Rage Against the Machine to 311 and Weezer and Outkast, the group was ultimately known for its sunshine-y vibes and perspectives.

“We were just writing songs about life and being positive, and that’s eventually what we got to be known for,” he said.

Senior School of Communications and Media Technologies student and event organizer Priscilla Mora said that she was drawn into Daytime Nightlife not just for their music, but also for their “renaissance rock band” mentality.

“We like to pick a variety of bands of all genres to encompass the diversity we have here at UKR,” she explained. “Part of the reason we chose to feature them is because of their uniqueness in style. They’re pretty known for (their) DIY attitude, where everything is mastered and produced within their band and I think those [are] skills and qualities that are taught here at the Academy.”

According to Mark, Daytime Nightlife went through a number of changes since the band’s early stages. The group was initially formed when jam sessions with a former roommate eventually turned into local shows all over San Francisco. Though the band originally had four members – including a drummer and keyboardist – life forces called for a change, but the DIY, “renaissance rock” attitude remained.

“I think it goes into the renaissance man idea, where we do everything ourselves,” he said. “We do all the pieces that make a band happen ourselves. It’s more than DIY in the studio, but it’s also DIY as a street team, social media, doing photo shoots; we shot and produced our own music video. Anything a label would do for you, we took it upon ourselves.”

Daytime Nightlife continues onward with its renaissance rock direction for the new album, though this time around, Mark wanted to elevate his music to a new level. He said the band “went into a more creative realm in the studio” and aims to add more colorful sound elements, including incorporating household items as instruments. For him, making new music is just one part of the goal for this album, the other is to tell his story while testing his capabilities as an artist.

“I want it to be more driving, I just want it to be better,” he said. “I want to show I’m growing as an artist and learning from the last thing. I just feel like it has a lot more from my life experiences and wanted to let that shine more prevalently.”